Cocktail bar chain the Botanist submits bid for outdoor seating area at planned new opening at site of Holiday Inn Sunderland

The Botanist, which has sites in Newcastle, York and Manchester, among other cities, has already confirmed it will be taking up one of four large units on the ground floor of the new Holiday Inn, in Keel Square.

Sunderland City Council’s planning department has now received a planning application to officially change the use of land outside the unit earmarked for the chain.

The bid, submitted by New World Trading Company Ltd, claims to meet the needs of “market demand in a dynamic and competitive leisure environment”.

According to a covering letter submitted to development chiefs, the outdoor area would offer 35 tables, each with up to four chairs.

The letter added: “The seating will be defined by branded material banners to ‘bookend’ the covers and act as a safety and security feature.

“Planters are [also] proposed to soften the appearance of the external seating area and to add an element of vegetation, consistent with the operator’s botanical branding. These will be clad in external grade timber.

“Parasols will be heavily weighted, and the benches will be built around them and will be unable to be removed [and] chairs will be chained-up overnight for security.”

In addition, the outdoor seating area is proposed to have a “modest PA system which will play background music at low levels”.

Applicants have said the outdoor seating area would generate additional trade and footfall through the area and would not “unacceptably impact public or neighbouring amenity”.

The supporting covering letter adds the outdoor area would “respond to the needs of the venue’s patrons, improving the viability of the premises and the sustainability of the unit”.

The plans fall against the backdrop of ongoing regeneration work in the area, including the construction of a new Culture House venue in Keel Square and new housing and offices nearby at Riverside Sunderland.

A decision on the Botanist plan is expected to be made by February, following a council consultation on the scheme.

For more information on the application, visit the council’s online planning portal and search reference: 22/02685/FU4